The Buzz March 23rd 2024: Kate Middleton's cancer diagnosis, drought in the prairies, and more.
Somehow we all knew there had to be more to this story.
It always felt like something was being held back. Was Charles sicker than the Palace was suggesting? What was that silly photoshop stuff really all about?
And then last evening the real news, it seems, drops. The Princess of Wales has cancer. She faced it head on. No paper statement issued. No spokesperson talking on her behalf.
Instead, the Princess herself. Alone. On a park bench. Talking into camera to millions.
Here’s how the BBC handled it:
Princess of Wales says she is undergoing cancer treatment
This is a story that, unless there’s a sudden change in precipitation and snow melt levels, the consequences could be dramatic.
Remember your history books and those pictures of tumbleweeds rolling across the prairies? Could that happen again?
A couple of researchers at the University of Calgary have been taking a deep dive into the situation and their findings are not just revealing, they are critically important.
Their names are David Barrett and Kerry Black, and The Conversation included their work this week:
Water woes in southern Alberta could spell disaster for aquatic ecosystems, and the people who rely on them
Be honest now - what do you really know about what we call “the carbon tax”?
Do you know how much you pay each year? Do you know how much you get back in rebates? Do you like, the overwhelming majority of Canadians, believe in climate change, and the need to do something about it? Do you agree with those who suggest killing the “carbon tax”? Do you know what their suggestion is to replace it?
Okay, there’s a reason I ask all those questions. It’s a good primer before you read this…Aaron Wherry’s latest column for cbc.ca:
The carbon tax has its critics — do any of them have better ideas?
Carbon pricing and party strategies also topped the list of what Good Talk had on its agenda this week. Chantal, Bruce and I had all that and a few surprises as well. You can catch up with our YouTube version which you can find on nationalnewswatch.com
Are you a member of a party that is quietly, maybe in the dark corners, contemplating a push for your leader to step down?
Maybe your party has dropped so far down in the polls that heading into an election campaign seems a totally lost cause.
You know who I’m talking about. Of course, you do. I’m talking about the Conservatives. The BRITISH Conservatives.
They love to dump their leaders. In fact, there are Conservative MPs in London who feel they should shove Rishi Sunak out the door right now, and pick a new leader - their fourth, in five years. Seriously. Prime Ministers, all of them!
Standing in the way is a former British Defence Secretary who coined a phrase this week which should stand forever in British politics, if not all politics.
His name: Ben Wallace. And his advice to the latest round of backstabbers? Stand down and face the music from the electorate. Or in his words, “March towards the sound of the guns!” I love it. Here’s how Genevieve Holl-Allen told the story in the Telegraph:
March towards the guns, Ben Wallace tells Tory MPs 🔒
Somehow nothing surprises me anymore about Donald Trump.
The twice impeached, serial liar, adjudicated rapist, and four times indicted (for among other things, stealing nuclear secrets) former president, just doesn’t seem to shock anyone with his latest plans.
Remember Paul Manafort, his one-time 2016 campaign manager, a man with all kinds of shady connections to Russian money and other questionable stuff, a convicted felon who Trump pardoned in 2020? Guess what? The rumour is Trump wants him back on the team for his latest run. Of course. I mean, why not? Let’s get the band back together.
Here’s how Reuters and the Washington Post handled it:
Trump eyeing Paul Manafort for 2024 campaign role, Washington Post reports
You’d have to be a close follower of US Democratic politics to know who Malchow was, but let’s just say he made a real difference as an organizer for the party and was admired by many across the divide that politics creates.
He died on Thursday because he decided that’s what he wanted, given the situation his life had become.
Sasha Issenberg tells his story for Politico:
Hal Malchow Is Going to Die on Thursday. He Has One Last Message for Democrats.
I’m in Montreal today for the State Funeral of Brian Mulroney. A country says farewell to its 18th Prime Minister. I will look forward to glancing around the Basilica, knowing full well the pews will be filled with quite a mix of his political friends and foes and the people like me, who had a chance to cover him on the journey he took our country.
I close with this picture, which I’ve used before, but it’s one of my favourites. I used to tell him that it looked like two guys who didn’t believe a word the other was saying!
RIP MBM.
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